Optically Probing the Chemistry of Thin Film Processes

9411504赫尔曼这项研究致力于光学诊断技术的发展，以获得薄膜加工过程中表面及其附近发生的化学物质的详细信息。这些原位技术被用来识别典型材料工艺中的化学步骤，特别是等离子体辅助化学刻蚀。拟议的工作由两个相关阶段组成。第一个是发展和使用激光诱导热解吸(LITD)来研究在高电荷密度等离子体，特别是ECR(电子回旋共振)等离子体中刻蚀过程中形成的稳态表面层。通常只有单分子层厚的这一层的形成和解吸的化学过程是理解蚀刻过程的关键。等离子体诱导的光发射和激光诱导荧光(LIF)将被用来检测解吸产物。激光诱导热解吸等光学探头将被用于实时研究重要原型合金材料的ECR刻蚀。拟议研究的第二阶段是开发图案化薄膜加工的高空间分辨率光学探头，例如在表面刻蚀带有图案化掩模的薄膜。了解发生在曝光的胶片和掩模表面上和正上方以及掩模侧壁附近的化学物质的细节是复杂的。所提出的方法是用激光诱导荧光探测表面附近的气体和用拉曼微探针谱探测表面，有时同时探测，两者的横向分辨率都是1微米。这将在现场进行，通常是实时进行的。材料的加工通常在很大程度上取决于表面及其附近发生的化学物质。在微电子学和光电子学的应用中也是如此，包括图案化刻蚀和原子层控制的异质结构、单分子层和薄膜的生长，纳米制造以及光学薄膜和保护性涂层的制造。然而，在这种材料加工中，对发生的化学步骤往往缺乏基本的了解。造成这种情况的部分原因是过程的复杂性，其中可能包括表面和上覆气相中的事件之间的相互作用，以及部分原因是缺乏以足够的空间分辨率识别物种和测量其浓度的诊断方法。这项提议的相关目标是开发必要的现场实时光学诊断，以获得这些化学过程的详细情况，并利用它们来确定几个关键但具有代表性的材料过程中涉及的化学步骤。

9411504 Herman This research is concemed with the development of optical diagnostic techniques for obtaining a detailed view of the chemistry that occurs on and near the surface during thin film processing. These in situ techniques are used to identify the chemical steps in representative materials processes, specifically plasma-assisted chemical etching. The proposed work consist of two related phases. The first is the development and use of laser-induced thermal desorption (LITD) to study the steady-state surface layer that is formed during etching in a high charge density plasma, specifically an ECR (electron cyclotron resonance) plasma. The chemistry of the formation and desorption of this layer, which is often only a monolayer thick, is key to understanding the etching process. Plasma-induced optical emission and laser induced fluorescence (LIF) will be used to examine the desorbed products. Laser-induced thermal desorption and other optical probes will be used to investigate the ECR etching of important prototype alloy materials in real time. The second phase of the proposed investigation is the development of high-spatial resolution optical probes of pattemed thin film processing, such as the etching of films with a pattemed mask on the surface. Understanding the details of the chemistry that occurs on and immediately above the surface of the exposed film and mask, and near the sidewalls of the mask, is complex. The proposed approach is to probe the gas near the surface with LIF and the surface itself wih Raman microprobe spectroscopy, at times simultaneously, both with 1 micron lateral resolution. This will be done in situ and usually in real-time. %%% The processing of materials often depends critically on the chemistry that occurs on and near the surface. This is true for applications in microelectronics and optoelectronics, which includes patterned etching and the atomic layer-controlled growth of heterostructures, monolayers and films, in nanoma nufacturing, and in the manufacture of optical films and protective coatings. However, a fundamental understanding of the chemical steps that occur is often lacking in such materials processing. This occurs, in part, because of the complex nature of the processes which may include the interplay between events on the surface and in the overlying gas phase, and, in part, because of a lack of diagnostics to identify species and to measure their concentrations with sufficient spatial resolution. The linked goals of this proposal are to develop in situ, real time optical diagnostics that are necessary to obtain a detailed view of these chemical processes, and to use them to identify the chemical steps involved in the processes of several key, yet representative, materials processes.